Beauty magazines that have women as their target audience have a definite influence on women’s self-perception and body image. The airbrushed photos can cause women to internalize certain perceptions of other women and compare themselves to impossible ideals. I found two examples that aim to rectify this impossible image of beauty.
In 2009, Australia enacted the Industry Code of Conduct on Body Image which put regulations on the content of women’s magazines. The code is voluntary, so many women’s advocates are doubtful that it will have any impact. However, the code used the following criteria as a basis for positive body image in magazines: positive content and messaging, diversity, fair placement, realistic and natural images of people, healthy weight models, appropriate modeling age, and fashion retailers supporting positive body image. You can access the full text here. One study compared the swimsuit issues of 10 Australian magazines to see how they were sticking to the code. More than half of the magazines were sticking to at least one aspect of the Industry Code of Conduct, which is a great start for the campaign (Boyd 2011). Compared to the Seventeen magazine’s body peace treaty the Australian Code of Conduct holds the magazine itself to a higher standard for body positivity. Seventeen magazine and their website advertise their treaty as a way for readers to make peace with themselves about body issues. The Seventeen magazine body peace treaty seems like it only grazes the topic of body dissatisfaction. They still fail to incorporate these values with the rest of their stories which may make it counterproductive. For example, they still feature articles that focus on appearance and weight loss instead of being healthy and happy. While the treaty is a good idea, it does not seem as effective as the intervention done by the Australian government. Both of these examples are steps in the right direction for magazine content, but there are still many areas that can be adapted, for example, beauty advertisements. The main thing to take from these is the critical approach to viewing airbrushed campaigns. These ads are retouched and edited to the point that some women can't even recognize themselves. Look at the video from Buzzfeed to the right for an example of this. The Thin Ideal is impossible to attain, and even the models in these magazines do not have the "perfect" figure. Don't compare yourself to these digitalized flawless figures because they aren't true representations of any woman. For more on media literacy, check out our page here. |
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